The iPhone 15 innovation no one talks about: woven cables may put an end to broken cables!
I’m willing to bet good money that you’ve at the very least seen a broken iPhone cable. Better yet, I’m willing to make the statement that most of you have had an iPhone cable break before.
And this sucks not only because charging is kind of important, but also because the iPhone is one of the best phones in the market and as such, one would expect that with the premium price tag comes a premium-made cable too.
Well, that is actually, finally, happening! Because, as some of you may know, Apple just recently held a reveal event for this little device you may have heard of: the iPhone 15. And this latest series of Apple phones is about to come with woven USB-C cables!
You probably know what a braided cable is, but just in case, let me bring you up to speed: it’s a cable that is reinforced with fabric in a braided fashion. I don’t know what you were expecting, but the important thing is that this type of cable is typically way more durable than regular cables.
And this sucks not only because charging is kind of important, but also because the iPhone is one of the best phones in the market and as such, one would expect that with the premium price tag comes a premium-made cable too.
You probably know what a braided cable is, but just in case, let me bring you up to speed: it’s a cable that is reinforced with fabric in a braided fashion. I don’t know what you were expecting, but the important thing is that this type of cable is typically way more durable than regular cables.
Oddly enough, this was one of the "silent" reveals of Apple's events. A 240W USB-C woven cable went up for sale on the Cupertino company's store for $29, and if we examine it closely and the compare it to some of the product images of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, we can see that they look pretty similar.
With the highlighted differences being that the one that you can buy standalone can be the length of 2M (~6,5 ft), while the ones that will come included with the iPhone are said to be 1M (~3,2ft) long. An equivalent replacement will cost you only $19 from Apple's online store, but will also only support a 60W charge.
Now, that being said, the iPhone is listed as capable of a 20W charging speed, so is the pre-packaged cable going to be with a lower speed than the ones sold separately? We don't know and only time will tell.
Another interesting factoid worth noting is that neither of the showcased cables have a strain relief. That's basically the little rubberized bit that goes before the actual output of a cable, which prevents it from breaking. While having woven cables is a sweet upgrade, including strain relief would have certainly also been appreciated, but oh well.
So while these new cables for the iPhone 15 should — in theory — be more durable than the cables which came with older models, Apple hasn't actually commented on that officially. If they turn out to be more difficult to break, though, this rocky transition to USB-C may just have become even more worth it.
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